Eating at hospitals may be bad for your health
No one ever thought hospital food was tasty, but now it turns out it can be bad for you, too. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., tested french fries from the cafeterias of 20 top US hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Children's Hospital, Boston.
The tests found dreaded trans fat in the fries at all 20 institutions, with Mass. General registering the highest level -- 6.5 grams of trans fat in a 6-ounce serving. (That was thought to be about the same as a large order of
When Mass. General was informed of its ranking, Susan Barraclough, the director of nutrition and food services, immediately switched to trans-fat-free frying oil -- though she said the hospital's own tests found fewer grams of trans fat in its fries. Brigham and Women's fries contained 2.1 grams, and Children's Hospital's fries had 1.9 grams, according to the advocacy group.
Trans fat is so bad for you that federal guidelines recommend no more than 2 grams per day. Trans fat not only raises LDL, or ''bad cholesterol," but lowers HDL, or ''good cholesterol," a high-risk combination that can cause heart disease.
Even so, hospitals claim it is very difficult to rid their cafeterias of trans fat; it's cheap and it tastes good.
The Brigham has used oil free of trans fat for frying since 2003, but many prepared products, including its fries, are made with trans fat. Barraclough said the new trans-fat-free fries definitely have an aftertaste.
Cancer center helps patients create own websites
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center have decided to make it easier for patients to create secure websites to update family and friends about their battle with cancer.
The hospitals, which run a joint cancer program, recently became a sponsor of CaringBridge, a free online service for patients. In return for a $2,500 annual fee, the Minneapolis-based nonprofit will help patients to create a website, as it does for almost 1,200 patients a month. Patients or close family members can post journal entries and photographs on their website as a way to update many people at once about their condition, rather than fielding dozens of individual calls and e-mails.
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